The Story of

Ireland’s Water
Eamon Gallen
John O’Donoghue
Everyone who works in the water services industry today is
working towards the same vision for Ireland’s water services

• Clean, safe drinking water for

everyone, to the same
consistent standard
• Return wastewater safely to
our environment
• Protect our environment
• Enable economic and social
development
Water Services Policy Statement focuses on
4 Key Principles

One single publically Fair and efficient

owned national water delivery with a
services authority customer focus

Ways of working to
Priority public health
support partnership
and environment
with State bodies and
quality outcomes
excellent stakeholder
across sector
engagement

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Government policy on water is very clearly defined
and mirrored in all Irish Water policy documents
25 Year
Strategic Plan

7 Year
Business Plan
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 We currently deliver 1.7 billion litres of treated
water every day...
..to Irish homes

5 ..and Irish businesses

…managing over 7,000 individual assets,
many of which are not fit for purpose…
…with 88,000km of water and wastewater pipe to
manage 24/7, including leaks…

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…while Ireland’s demand for water services is
growing significantly

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This is how we are structured…

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…and this is how we currently operate…

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…with extensive and important oversight bodies…

Joint Oireachtas Committee on

Housing Planning & Local
Government

Joint Oireachtas Committee on

Future Funding of Water
Services

Committee of
Public Accounts

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…and staff based around the country…

East/Midlands Region Dublin City

Mullingar

West/North West Castlebar

Region
Cavan Town

Donegal Town

Southern Region Mallow

Limerick City

Kilkenny City

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…to deliver Irish Water Business Plan’s key
objectives

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How we prioritize investment
• We use operational information to help to decide when and where to
upgrade pipes and develop infrastructure.

• This is based on risk assessment which looks at :

o the condition of the asset, its age and pressure;
o the scale of customer impact such as number of people affected, if big
businesses or hospitals are on that network; and
o supporting social and economic growth.

• The overall scale of funding is a matter for government having regard to the
assessment of needs by Irish Water.
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We have estimated it will take many investment cycles
to address our water and wastewater issues

€13.5bn • Multiple investment cycles

2014-2021 • Short-term
€5.5bn

2022-2027 • Medium-term
€4.5bn

2028-2034 • Long-term
€4.0bn

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Between 2014-2021, we will invest as follows to address
the most urgent issues

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2014-2016, we have already invested €1.7 billion
…and this is how Ireland has benefitted to date

Drinking Water Waste Water Other Efficiencies

▪ Boil Water restriction lifted
from 145,000 people
▪ 70 reservoirs cleaned and
refurbished
▪ 840km of new or replaced
mains, further 1,000km
targeted
▪ 9 new water treatment plants
delivered, 18 upgraded
▪ 247 Pressure Reduction
upgrades reducing leakage
▪ 880,000 domestic meters
installed
▪ 32 waste water plants ▪ 600 disinfection plants
upgraded and 27 new plants assessed and works
built commenced
▪ 350 flow monitoring and ▪ Over 10,800 Urgent H&S
sampling sites upgraded addressed
▪ 436 Plant Optimisation ▪ 73 Energy Reduction
audits and 2,000 Schemes
improvement
recommendations
▪ 25 priority source control
projects to resolve
wastewater overloading
These are our continuing Strategic Priorities to 2021

Capital Maintenance Water Reduce

(Asset Replacement) ▪ Microbiological (BWN & BWN Risk) Leakage
o Lead
Sewer Flooding o Remedial Action List (RAL)
o Trihalomethanes (THMs)
Resilience &
Water Pressure Headroom

Wastewater
▪ ECJ / UWWTD Treatment
o 44 Locations (2014) with no Efficient provision for
treatment Growth (Housing)
• Licence Compliance
We are making significant investment in large
scale critical infrastructure

Ringsend Vartry Water Cork Lower Harbour

Water Supply
Wastewater Main Drainage
Supply Project Project.
Treatment Plant Scheme

Greater Dublin Regional Biosolids

Drainage Scheme Storage Facility
Headroom in the
Greater Dublin Area
By 2050, our population will grow by 1.2 million
and with it, increased demand for water

21 | Water Supply Project – Eastern and Midlands Region

Today we can produce a maximum of 598 Ml/d from 7 sources – while
on an average day we consume 579 Ml/d

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We are delivering projects now to provide up to
656 Ml/d by 2021 – but that is the limit of existing sources

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Demand is growing and has already outstripped supply
700

600
Daily Volume (Millions of litres per day)

500

400

300

200

100

536 539 547 557 577 585 636

0
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Q1 March Avge. March Max.
Period of Average Daily Demand
Current Sustainable WAFU Ulimate Max WAFU 2021

24 | Water Supply Project – Eastern and Midlands Region

Reducing leakage
alone
is not sufficient
9,000 km of complex pipe network in Greater Dublin Area

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Replacing 1 km of pipe means 1,000 customers will experience
restrictions/outages for up to 6 weeks

1.5m water main

Due to service
congestion, hand
digging was required

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Irish Water have a strategic approach to tackling
our serious leakage challenge

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By 2050 leakage will be reduced to 140 Ml/d
despite major network expansion

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We have an urgent need for a new water supply

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We also have real supply challenges
across the Eastern and Midlands Region

31 | Water Supply Project – Eastern and Midlands Region

Solution: A New Water Supply Source for the region

Benefits for the region

This new water source will address the serious
water supply deficit across the region
It will deliver social, economic and environmental benefits
across the entire region
It will augment and diversify water supply sources and
strengthen their connectivity to provide a secure and reliable
water supply
It will have no impact to current levels and flows on the
River Shannon, Lough Derg and Parteen Basin.

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Irish Water in the
Dublin &
Midlands Region
Water and Wastewater Project Spend

Category Total €m
2017-2021
National programmes 963
Capital Maintenance 552
Water and Wastewater Projects
- Estimated total spend 2017-2021 2,074

• Of which estimated spend in

East and Midlands is €1,141m

Total 3,588

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Water Activities in the East & Midlands Region
72 Schemes on Qtr1, 2018 RAL nationwide
Water 17 Schemes in East & Midlands serving 290,450 population
Quality Irish Water target is for 13 schemes on RAL end 2018, 8 Schemes on
RAL end 2019 and 0 schemes on RAL end 2020

National Leakage Reduction Programme (launched 2017)

Water mains replacement underway in counties Kildare, Laois, Longford,
Offaly, Westmeath, and in Dublin, we are replacing aging water mains in
Cabra, Chapelizod, Crumlin, Drumcondra, Glasnevin, Howth, Rathgar &
Leakage Stoneybatter. We are replacing public lead connections in Louth.
Reduction
First Fix Scheme: (30/06/2017)
43,174 customer notifications issued in East & Midlands
47.73 million litres of water saved every day in region

National Disinfection
National Reservoir cleaning
Programmes Dam inspections
Process Optimisation at treatment plants
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Waste Water Activities in the East & Midlands
Region
Irish Water is progressing priority projects to address the agglomerations in
Waste your region that are currently discharging wastewater without treatment.
These include:
Water Dublin: Rush
Quality Louth: Omeath
Wicklow: Arklow

Process Optimisation at Wastewater Treatment Plant

National
Critical Sewer Survey Programme
Programmes National Wastewater Sludge Management Plan

Ringsend WWTP, Greater Dublin Drainage, DLR SS network upgrade,

Ballyboughil WWTP, Balbriggan/Skerries SS, Upper Liffey Valley SS, Ballymahon
Sample
WWTP, Ardee SS, Carlingford WWTP, Stamullen WWTP, Enfield WWTP,
Projects Edenderry WWTP, Athlone SS, Monksland WWTP, Arklow SS, Blessington
WWTP, Baltinglass WWTP.
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Other Activities in the East & Midlands Region

Supporting
Supporting Regional Spatial and Economic Strategies (to be finalised in 2018) as
Regional and
well as ongoing reviews of County Development Plans and
County
Local Area Plans
Development

Contact centre available 24/7 365 days – 76% first contact resolution
Customer Charters – set service levels
Vulnerable Customer register and services
Supporting Non-domestic customers transferred
Customers New connections policy
New Connections and Developer Services with regional support
Non-Domestic Tariff Framework Review underway by CRU

Executing National Emergency Plans with the LAs during Storm Ophelia and
Supporting Storm Emma
Incidents and Average week – 140 reported outages by LAs, with approx. 45,000 premises
Outages affected. Burst mains highest driver of outages
Staleen incidents
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Staleen: Expediting the solution
The issues The solution The Supply
• Fragility of rising main • Serves population of c.90,000
serving Staleen WTP with Integrated programme of works in Drogheda, South Louth and
frequent bursts to tackle the problems within the East Meath area.
• Ageing distribution entire supply area: • Comprises an abstraction from
network with high the River Boyne, a raw water
leakage level pump station at Roughgrange,
▪ Replacement of Rising Main serving Staleen a treatment plant at Staleen
• Water treatment plant at WTP and storage reservoirs at
risk of failure to comply
with all requirements of ▪ Upgrading the WTP Donore.
the drinking water ▪ Upgrading the Roughgrange Pumping Station • 3 Water Supply Zones (South
regulations. ▪ Network improvements to water main in Louth & East Meath, Kiltrough
/ Bettystown and Ashbourne /
Ratoath
Ratoath) supplied via 4 supply
▪ Replacement of existing water main from routes
Duleek to Windmill Hill Reservoir
▪ Upgrade to Cushinstown pump station
Example projects in East & Midlands Region

Ballymore Eustace Water &

Sludge Treatment Plant

Staleen
Vartry Water Scheme WTP

Upper Liffey Valley Sewerage

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Thank you for
your time
Questions?